“I’d rather go back to war than to do Katrina again. It was that bad.” — Paramedic Perry Lew
“The most unsafe spot I’ve ever been in, in 25 years of my EMS career, was inside that Superdome. It was chaos. Complete chaos.” — Paramedic Keeley Williams-Johnson
“In this moment of complete loss of humanity, I was reminded of the beauty of humanity in the face of crisis.” — Dr. Jullette Saussy
On Friday, August 29, New Orleans EMS released a 20-year commemoration documentary about the events of Hurricane Katrina. Produced and directed in partnership with Prodigy EMS, “The ones who stayed” brings forward the voices of the EMS professionals who lived through what became one of the darkest weeks in modern American disaster response. Through raw testimony — sometimes halting, sometimes fierce, often tear-stained — the documentary reconstructs the hours, days and months in which the members of New Orleans EMS chose to stay — when so many had to leave.
A catastrophe told through firsthand eyes
The film wisely avoids narration or dramatization. Instead, it lets the paramedics, EMTs and physicians recount their own experiences. Their words carry the weight of authenticity — whether describing the moment the storm winds shredded windows “like Swiss cheese,” the horror of hearing mothers on the phone strapping floaties onto their children before the line went dead, or the surreal sight of helicopters hovering in endless lines above the Convention Center.
From the first nervous party at an EMS conference, to the realization that Katrina had turned toward New Orleans, the film captures the shift from routine storm prep to existential crisis. The testimonies build a slow crescendo: from a pre-storm prayer in the ambulance bay to the sudden loss of communications, the flooding of hospitals, the desperation in the Superdome, and the perilous walk across the Crescent City Connection in pitch-black chaos.
Themes of survival and service
What emerges is more than disaster chronology: it is a study in survival, resilience and the redefinition of what it means to be an EMS provider. The film highlights several themes:
- Improvization under collapse. With no radios, no ambulances and no intact hospitals, EMS crews resorted to “MacGyver medicine” using broken chairs, dollies and shopping carts to move patients.
- Moments of grace amidst chaos. Viewers hear how citizens deferred their own needs —“she’s sicker than I am, take her first” — and how the New Orleans Fire Department ultimately rescued EMS personnel stranded on the bridge.
- Pride and pain interwoven. Paramedics recall with both sorrow and pride that they participated in what may have been the largest civilian helicopter evacuation in U.S. history, airlifting 19,000 people in a single day.
- The long shadow of trauma. Even 2 decades later, many recount nightmares, loss and lingering doubts about whether New Orleans ever truly recovered. Perhaps the most striking quote comes from Paramedic Perry Lew: “I’d rather go back to war than to do Katrina again.” It encapsulates the profound psychological toll that still echoes through those who stayed.
A story of rebuilding
The final chapters of the documentary shift from survival to rebirth. Viewers follow the crews into a nursing home chapel that became their base of operations, through years spent working out of FEMA trailers, and into the long slog of rebuilding a department — and a city — that would never be the same.
Dr. Jullette Saussy and Chief Carl Flores articulate the transformation from despair to determination. For them, the bond forged in disaster became the foundation of a reinvigorated New Orleans EMS, one rebuilt on passion, camaraderie and the memory of those they could not save.
A lasting legacy
“The ones who stayed” is not an easy watch. It is painful, harrowing and at times overwhelming. Yet it is also uplifting, reminding viewers of the resilience of the human spirit and the quiet courage of first responders.
The documentary succeeds because it does not sanitize or dramatize. It gives us the mud, the fear, the gunshots in the night — and it gives us the relief of rescue, the solidarity of colleagues, and the will to stay and rebuild.
In the end, the story is both local and universal. It is about New Orleans, but it is also about every EMS provider, firefighter, police officer and healthcare worker who has ever faced disaster and had to decide whether to leave or to stay.
The ones who stayed remind us what service truly means.
Essential viewing for anyone in public safety, disaster medicine or emergency management, this documentary stands as both historical record and enduring tribute to the courage and sacrifice of New Orleans EMS.
Memorable quotes
Facing the storm
- “He told us that it was going to get really bad … and that we would probably lose communications at a certain point and have to act on our own without any direction from our leadership. Then he did something really strange. He asked us to all hold hands and he said a prayer.” — Paramedic Cedric Palmisano
- “That was the last time we would ever be in that bay, at those headquarters together.” — EMT Liz Belcher
- “We’re facing something catastrophic.” — Dr. Jullette Saussy
Chaos and collapse
- “Listening to mothers saying, ‘I’ve got floaties on my kids,’ and then the line would go dead. You knew they drowned.” — Dr. Jullette Saussy
- “The most unsafe spot I’ve ever been in, in 25 years of my EMS career, was inside that Superdome. It was chaos. Complete chaos.” — Paramedic Keeley Williams-Johnson
- “Completely pitch black. You could hear screams. You could hear gunshots. I remember texting my friend: ‘Tell my family I love them,’ because I didn’t think I was going to get off that bridge.” — EMT Liz Belcher
Moments of rescue
- “NOFD actually rescued New Orleans EMS that night. Saved us.” — Paramedic Keeley Williams-Johnson
- “We cleared out 19,000 people in about 18 hours. The military threw everything at that LZ … it became known as LZ Superman.” — Paramedic Cedric Palmisano
- “We were told we airlifted out more people in that day than the last day of Vietnam.” — Paramedic Perry Lew
Personal toll
- “I’d rather go back to war than to do Katrina again. It was that bad.” — Paramedic Perry Lew
- “I could tell the difference between the smell of a dead body and a refrigerator closed for weeks. That’s how bad it was.” — Paramedic Charlie Brown
- “I just remember climbing under a table, pulling the chairs around me, and thinking — nobody can get me if I’m under here.” — EMT Liz Belcher
Rebuilding and legacy
- “Knowing that we’ve been through the worst disaster, there was this sense of camaraderie, of renewed honor and drive … we made it out together and alive.” — Paramedic Cedric Palmisano
- “People started cheering when they saw our patch. We had been called ‘ambulance drivers’ all our lives. Now they said, ‘That’s our EMS.’” — Chief Carl Flores
- “In this moment of complete loss of humanity, I was reminded of the beauty of humanity in the face of crisis.” — Dr. Jullette Saussy
Where to watch ‘The ones who stayed’
“The ones who stayed: The story of New Orleans EMS during Hurricane Katrina” will premiere on Friday, August 29 at 4:00 p.m. PST / 6:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. EST on the Prodigy EMS YouTube Channel.
